J80 News

(La Rochelle, France)- Three and a half months after the first stage in Brest, the eighteen sailing clubs gathered in La Rochelle for the 3rd edition of the French National Sailing League, sailing in a fleet of matched J/80 one-design class sailboats. Host for the regatta was the Société des Régates Rochelaises.After the Brest regatta, it was the APCC Voile Sportive Team from Nantes that was leading, just ahead of the Normans of the CV Saint Aubin Elbeuf (CVSAE). The teams were recruiting top talent to help them improve their performance, including such French sailing superstars like Kévin Péponnet (470...

(Houston, TX)- J/Fest Southwest was a spectacular success this year! Sixty-two boats total; the J/22’s and J/24’s really came out in force! The sailors were treated to awesome sailing conditions both days; in particular, it was windy on Saturday with gusts in the high 20’s, which was tough on humans, sails, and boats. Reported Scott Spurlin- J/Boats Southwest dealer- “we had a nice sustained downhill ride on the J/88! Held 17.2kts for a loong time. Crew was hooting and hollering!”The J/FEST Southwest Regatta took place from October 12th to 14th, hosted by Lakewood YC. The event started out with the...

(Lake Pleasant, AZ)- You bet! On a gorgeous body of water northwest of downtown Phoenix, it’s actually a huge lake- called Lake Pleasant. For years, the past Commodore of the Arizona YC, Victor Felice, has been promoting sailing of all kinds on the lake- ranging from J/24s to J/80s to Hobie 16s and anything in between.Recently, we find that Victor’s “Tiller and Kites- Exceptional Sailing” program has continued to gain passionate, enthusiastic sailors to the lake. His latest recruit is the sweet, attractive Brooke Miller from downtown Phoenix, AZ. Here is a sailing video of Brooke’s recent sailing escapades, skippering...

(Hamble, England)- Hamble Yacht Services (HYS) and the Hamble River Sailing Club (HRSC) announce a three-year partnership for the HYS Hamble Winter Series. Well over 1,000 sailors will be taking part in the UK's most popular winter series, all of which will benefit from the long-term partnership.The 2018 HYS Hamble Winter Series will be the 37th edition run by the HRSC, the event is organized by a very experienced team, led by PRO Kathy Smalley, and supported by around 40 dedicated volunteers every race day.“Organising racing for the series requires resources, and whilst we have the tremendous support of enthusiastic...

(Lorient, France)- For the 19th edition of the Atlantic Telegramme Regatta, hosted by the CN Lorient from September 21st to 23rd, a fleet of J/70s and J/80s enjoyed a friendly and sporting atmosphere of offshore sailing. The event is renowned for conviviality and the bar along the pontoons, and the Saturday evening crew dinner.Winning the ten-boat J/70 fleet was Bruno James team on LE MDCO CHERBOURG with a 2-1-1-1-4 tally for 9 pts total. His crew was comprised of Hugues Dorriere, Olivier Fantou, and Sebastien Metivier. Taking the silver was Philippe Guigne’s VIRTUAL REGATTA 70, with crew of Damien Scelo,...

(Seattle, WA)- Kurt Hoehne, an active sailor and writer of the popular blog- SAILISH.com- in the Pacific Northwest offered some thoughts on their popular charity sailing event held each summer- the “Pink Boat Regattas”.Said Kurt, “The Pink Boat Regattas have proven an effective and extremely fun fundraiser for sailors to help fight breast cancer. The final tallies aren’t in for this year’s three Pacific Northwest events (Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma), but Jennifer Mathis of the Pink Boat Regatta reports that more than a half million dollars have been raised over seven years, and that Tacoma exceeded their goal of $20,000.Jan Anderson...

2015 Hong Kong J/80 Class Championships

On November 29 and 30, 2015, the J/80 Fleet in Hong Kong hosted its Class Championship. 17 boats participated in the event, including 2 highly qualified overseas

teams from China. The first day of the regatta saw the fleet compete in 17-20 knots of breeze and 1.5 to 2m seas. Barry Hayes, skippering UK Sailmakers made it pretty clear that he was coming for a win! After winning the first 2 races, he finished 2nd on the third race of the day. Rory Godman, skippering Javelin, was coming back strong in the last 2 races of the day after struggling on the first 2 races. The rest of the fleet was battling hard to stay close to the leaders and at the end of the first day, a strong group of 10 boats were in a position to grab a spot on the podium.

The second day of the race saw the boats compete in a very different environment: 8-12 knots of breeze and a relatively flat sea. Barry and his very talented team comprising top Chinese sailors Horace Chen Jin Hao from the DongFeng VOR team, Edmond Zhang Meng Yuan and Xing Wei Wei struggled at first to adapt to these moderate conditions and finished 9th on the first 2 races of Day 2. But they came in with two bullets on the final races of the day to win the Championship on countback, just ahead of Javelin (Rory Godman) who secured 2nd place on the podium.

After a very promising first day, an overseas team from China skippered by Samuel Shen and chartering Frank Pong's Jelik 6, had to retire on the second day due to a technical issue. Nonetheless, based on their strong performance on the first day, they promised to come back next year in the hunt for a podium spot.

The race for the owner/driver title was very open and the battle was hard fought by several contenders until the final race finished and the winner was determined. Akira Sakai on Jailbreaker won the title, followed by Ben Bulmer on Jasmine and Andrew Moore on Tigrina.The presence of overseas teams was very welcome and the Hong Kong J80 fleet will continue to welcome international competitors to this annual event. The event is usually held in November which typically offers optimal sailing conditions with East-North Easterly breezes of between 12 and 18 knots, a light swell and clear blue skies. Add in the local hospitality and the stunning location and facilities of the host yacht club (the event is organized by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, one of the oldest sailing clubs in Asia with a history dating back as far as 1890), it is no wonder this event is growing in popularity. The full results can be obtained here: http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/upload/Sailing/Classes/J80/J80ClassChamps.htm